The 7-foot center out of Ohio State, wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with his last name, was introduced yesterday to Blazers fans at a lunchtime rally, some 16 hours after the team took him with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.

"I'm loving it here, and I'm going to have a smile on my face for a long time to come," Oden said.

Later in the day, Oden was at the Blazers' practice facility south of Portland where he received his official No. 52 jersey.

"It looks good," Oden said. "I like it."

He wanted that number because it's a mix of his high school and college numbers. Oden was No. 50 at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis and wore No. 20 last season at Ohio State.

Blazers coach Nate McMillan said he had his sights set on Oden since watching Ohio State play Florida in the NCAA championship game.

"When I was going to sleep at night and thinking about next season, the guy who kept popping into my head was Greg," McMillan said.

A few thousand fans chanted Oden's name when he arrived at downtown's Pioneer Courthouse Square on the city's light-rail system.

Oden acknowledged the cheers by bowing to the crowd.

"This is crazier than New York," said Oden, accompanied to Portland by his parents, brother and girlfriend.

After taking Oden with the top pick, the Blazers made headlines on draft night by sending Zach Randolph, Fred Jones and Dan Dickau to the New York Knicks for Channing Frye and Steve Francis.